Wilfrid Sheed
Wilfrid Sheed
Wilfrid John Joseph Sheedwas an English-born American novelist and essayist...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth27 December 1930
Wilfrid Sheed quotes about
intelligent speak-english speak
If the French were really intelligent, they'd speak English.
maturity males exhausted
The American male doesn't mature until he has exhausted all other possibilities.
short-life america unnecessary
Unnecessary customs live a brutally short life in America.
editors years people
Censors will try to censor a little bit more each year (because, like editors and other officious people, censors don't feel they are getting anywhere unless they are up and doing).
sunshine weather made
The actual Irish weather report is really a recording made in 1922, which no one has had occasion to change. "Scattered showers, periods of sunshine."
generations
Every writer is a writer of the generation before.
father land catholic
For Catholics before Vatican II, the land of the free was pre-eminently the land of Sister Says-except, of course, for Sister, for whom it was the land of Father Says.
reviews breach
Mushy reviews are a breach of faith
soul rest-of-your-life palaces
Saloons provide moments of genuine ecstasy - but only if your soul is at peace and the rest of your life bears contemplating. Otherwise, they are palaces of misery.
home wife office
As things now stand, the office is a slightly meaner battleground than the home. Male bosses seem to dominate their women underlings as they would never dominate their wives.
marriage couple judging
Even the God of Calvin never judged anyone as harshly as married couples judge each other.
strong real mistake
It is a fallacy to think that carping is the strongest form of criticism: the important work begins after the artist's mistakes have been pointed out, and the reviewer can't put it off indefinitely with sneers, although some neophytes might be tempted to try: "When in doubt, stick out your tongue" is a safe rule that never cost one any readers. But there's nothing strong about it, and it has nothing to do with the real business of criticism, which is to do justice to the best work of one's time, so that nothing gets lost.